Millionth tonne of oil produced at Prirazlomnoye field

26 november 2015

The millionth tonne of oil has been produced at the Prirazlomnoye field the Prirazlomnoye field. Part of a consignment despatched on the Mikhail Ulyanov tanker, it will be delivered to customers in north—west Europe in early December 2015. This milestone consignment, produced at the Prirazlomnoye offshore rig, will be the 10th such consignment this year and the 14th since initial development of the field.

Prirazlomnoye is the only project on the Russian Arctic Shelf at which commercial oil production is currently ongoing. Active development of the project commenced in 2013 with the drilling of the first well in the summer of that year, and the Prirazlomnaya ice-resistant offshore rig commencing production in December. This new Russian oil has been named “Arctic Oil (ARCO)”, with the first consignments from Prirazlomnoye commencing in April 2014.

Gennady Lubin, General Director Gazpromneft Shelf, commented: “This millionth tonne of oil isn’t just a nice number. It’s an important milestone, marking a new starting point in terms of the further development of the project. Our work here every day makes a very important point: oil production on the Arctic Shelf can be done safely. As project development gains pace, we will continue to ensure that the project remains fully compliant with the most stringent environmental and industrial safety standards.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Prirazlomnoye field is the first — and, thus far, the only — field on the Russian Arctic Shelf at which oil production is being undertaken (commercial production having begun in December 2013). The first consignments of a new Russian “Arctic Oil (ARCO)” were despatched from the platform in April 2014. Total production in the field’s first year of commercial production reached 2.2 million barrels (approximately 300,000 tonnes).

The Prirazlomnoye oilfield is located in the Pechora Sea, 60 kilometres from the shore. Recoverable reserves are in the order of 70 million tonnes. The licence to develop the Prirazlomnoye field is held by Gazpromneft-Shelf LLC, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft.

An ice-resistant offshore rig, “Prirazlomnaya”, was designed and constructed (in Russia), specifically for development of this field, capable of handling all technological operations — drilling, production, storage, and the preparation and offloading of the finished product. It is designed for use in the most extreme environmental and climatic conditions, meets the most stringent safety requirements, and can withstand maximum ice loads.

All well heads to be drilled at Prirazlomnaya will be located within the platform, the base of which then acts as a buffer between the well and the open sea. In addition to which, all of the wells are specially equipped to prevent the possibility of any uncontrolled emission of oil or gas. The offloading line for the pumping of oil to tankers is equipped with an emergency shut-down system, which is activated instantaneously.